Science and the scientist in society

The team focuses on researching the history of scientific institutions and personalities in the Czech lands in the 19th and 20th centuries (with overlaps in time) primarily in terms of their position within society. The team's backbone project is the History of the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and research on its predecessors (the Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts, the Czechoslovak National Research Council, the Royal Czech Society of Sciences). However, we also focus on the social history of science and scientific personalities, the role of scientists in shaping discourse in particular areas of social life, their functioning in public functions and in formal and informal networks of influence, and issues related to the habitus of scientists and the mechanism of relations within the scientific community (personnel strategies, generations, relations between teachers and their students, the role of gender). Projects on the image of scientists and science from the perspective of other social groups, e.g. in the arts, are also envisaged. In addition to traditional archival sources, the group is exploring the possibilities of using other types of historical sources and methods, such as oral history or iconographic sources.